“Necessary actions” to be taken against satellite jammers

Member states have been given greater autonomy by the International Telecommunications Union to tackle satellite jamming.

The decision was taken at the World Radio Communications Conference (WRC-12) following a growing campaign from individual broadcasters, the EBU, human rights groups and media freedom campaigners.

The change, adopted by 165 of 193 ITU members, was to article 15.21 of the regulations. It now reads: “If an administration has information of an infringement of the Constitution, the Convention or the Radio Regulations (in particular Article 45 of the Constitution and No. 15.1 of the Radio Regulations) committed by a station under its jurisdiction, the administration shall ascertain the facts and take the necessary actions.”

Welcoming the move, Ingrid Deltenre, director-general of EBU said, “From the EBU’s point of view, this decision taken by so many countries participating in WRC-12 is a first important step in the right direction. Now we expect ITU services to be vigilant and ready to react to deliberate attempts to obstruct the free flow of information.”

A number of broadcasters, including BBC Persian TV, Deutsche Welle and Al Jazeera, have been subject to jamming in recent years.

Related

About Julian Clover

You can talk to Julian on Twitter @julianclover, on Facebook or by email at jclover@broadbandtvnews.com. Julian has been following the media world for over 20 years with a focus on the UK and Nordic markets, HD, 3D and connected TV technologies.

White Paper

yes Satellite is Israel’s leading pay TV service provider. Founded in July 2000, yes had since gained 580,000 subscribers, which comprise 38 percent of the Israeli pay TV market. yes is considered to be an innovative provider, introducing new services and technological advancements to its subscribers regularly, ahead of its competition. … [Download this White Paper...]

Speakers’ Corner

Intel’s acquisition of Lantiq is great news for everybody involved in the smart gateway field, for it will galvanise the market and win over anybody who still doubts that such a dedicated device on the premise will be essential for the intelligent connected home of the future. Related

The BBC has a report out called The Future of News. The authors are some of my most talented colleagues, and their work is as comprehensive and well-thought through as it is blunt in its assessment of how far and fast our industry needs to change. Related